Telecommunication rack unit tray

ABSTRACT

An interface panel that mounts to a telecommunications rack. The interface panel including a splicing arrangement and a splitter module. The interface panel further including a fixed tray to which each of the splicing arrangement and the splitter module mounts. The splicing arrangement and the splitter module each having a sliding mounting arrangement that provides access to the functional splicing and splitting components.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application is a continuation application of U.S. application Ser.No. 11/716,392, filed Mar. 9, 2007 now U.S. Pat. No. 7,509,016; whichapplication is incorporated herein by reference.

TECHNICAL FIELD

This disclosure relates to devices for use in the telecommunicationsindustry, and associated methods. More specifically, this disclosurerelates to fiber optic splicing and splitting components, andarrangements of such components.

BACKGROUND

Many local area networks and telecommunication systems utilizetelecommunications racks having termination panels that providecross-connections between telecommunications equipment. Demand forgreater telecommunication services has prompted the need to increase thefunctionality of the various rack mounted arrangements; yet, low-costsolutions including the increased functionality are also desirable.

Improvement in devices and arrangements that provide greaterfunctionality while minimizing costs is needed.

SUMMARY

One aspect of the present disclosure relates to a telecommunicationssystem including an interface panel that mounts to a telecommunicationsrack. The interface panel includes a splicing arrangement and at leastone splitter module. Another aspect of the present disclosure relates toan interface panel having a fixed tray. The functional splicing andsplitting components mounted on the fixed tray are slidably mounted toprovide access to the functional components when the tray is mounted toa telecommunications rack.

A variety of examples of desirable product features or methods are setforth in part in the description that follows, and in part will beapparent from the description, or may be learned by practicing variousaspects of the disclosure. The aspects of the disclosure may relate toindividual features as well as combinations of features. It is to beunderstood that both the foregoing general description and the followingdetailed description are explanatory only, and are not restrictive ofthe claimed invention.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a front perspective view of one embodiment oftelecommunications system including an interface panel in accordancewith the principles disclosed;

FIG. 2 is a front elevation view of the system of FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is top plan view of the interface panel of FIG. 1, shown inisolation;

FIG. 4 is a side elevation view of the interface panel of FIG. 1;

FIG. 5 is a rear perspective view of the interface panel of FIG. 1; and

FIG. 6 is a partially exploded front perspective view of the interfacepanel of FIG. 5.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

Reference will now be made in detail to exemplary aspects of the presentdisclosure that are illustrated in the accompanying drawings. Whereverpossible, the same reference numbers will be used throughout thedrawings to refer to the same or like parts.

FIGS. 1 and 2 illustrate one embodiment of a telecommunications system10 including an interface panel 12 in accordance with the principlesdisclosed. The telecommunications system 10 includes at least onetelecommunications rack 14 (schematically represented). The rack 14defines a plurality of rack unit spaces 16. Telecommunications equipment18 (schematically represented in FIG. 2), such as adapter panels, forexample, mount to the rack 14 within the rack unit spaces 16.

The interface panel 12 of the present disclosure also mounts within aselected one of the number of rack unit spaces 16 of thetelecommunications rack 14. The interface panel 12 is mounted to thetelecommunications rack 14 by mounting brackets 26 located at the sidesof the interface panel. When mounted to the rack, the interface panel 12is in a generally horizontal orientation.

Preferably, the interface panel 12 has a height H (FIG. 2) that occupiesonly a single rack unit (one RU) of the telecommunications rack 14. Inthe illustrated embodiment, the height H of the interface panel 12 isapproximately 1.25 inches.

The interface panel 12 defines a cable entry 28 and a cable exit 30.Incoming cables 34 enter into an interior region 32 of the interfacepanel 12 through the cable entry 28. Outgoing cables 36 exit theinterior region 32 of the panel 12 through the cable exit 30. Theinterface panel 12 defines a front 38 and a rear 40. In the illustratedembodiment, two cable entries 28 are located at the rear 40 of theinterface panel 12; the cable exit 42 is located at the front 38 of theinterface panel. In one embodiment, the cable exit 42 at the front 38 isdefined by a front opening 80 (FIG. 4) of the interface panel. Inalternative embodiments, a front panel can be provided—the cable exitthen being provided at one or both of the sides of the panel adjacent tothe front panel.

Referring now to FIGS. 1 and 3, the interface panel 12 is generallydefined by a tray 20. The tray 20 can include a rear wall 82 andopposing side walls 84, 86. A splicing arrangement 22 and at least onesplitter module 24 are each mounted to the tray 20. In use, the incomingcable 34 enters the interface panel 12 through one of the cable entries28 and is routed to the splicing arrangement 22. A clamp 78 located atthe cable entry 28 can be used to secure the incoming cable 34 relativeto the panel 12. Excess incoming cable slack can be wrapped aroundradius limiters 42 (FIG. 3) of the splicing arrangement 22 and/orwrapped around radius limiters 52 mounted on the tray 20.

Referring now to FIGS. 5 and 6, the splicing arrangement 22 generallyincludes a splice tray 44 having splice-holding channels 46 that receivecable splices 48. At the splicing arrangement 22, the incoming cable 34is spliced to provide a connectorized cable connection between thesplicing arrangement 22 and the splitter module 24. The connectorizedcable connection, i.e., the now spliced cable 50, is routed from thesplicing arrangement 22 to the splitter module 24 (schematicallyrepresented in FIG. 5).

The now spliced cable 50 exits the splice tray 44 of the splicingarrangement 22 and is routed from the splicing arrangement 22 to thesplitter module 24. Excess spliced cable slack extending between thesplicing arrangement 22 and the splitter module 24 can be wrapped aroundthe radius limiters 52 mounted on the tray 20.

In the illustrated embodiment, four splitter modules 24 are shown,however, a greater number or lesser number of splitter modules can beprovided. At the splitter module 24, the spliced cable 50 is split intothe plurality of split outgoing cables 36 (FIG. 1). From the splittermodule 24, the split outgoing cables 36 can be routed out the cable exit30 and to desired termination locations, as required by the particularapplication.

Referring now to FIG. 6, each of the splitter modules 24 of the presentinterface panel 12 generally includes a splitter adapter 76 thatconnects to a cable housing portion 56. A splitter device 54(schematically represented by dashed lines in FIG. 1) is located withinthe cable housing portion 56 of the module 24. The cable housing portion56 also contains the split outgoing cables 36. Further details of asplitter module that can be used in the present interface panel 10 aredescribed in U.S. patent application Ser. No. 11/354,297; whichapplication is incorporated herein by reference.

In the illustrated embodiment, the cable housing portion 56 of thesplitter modules 24 each slide independent of one another, and relativeto the tray 20 of the interface panel 12. In particular, the cablehousing portion 56 of each splitter module 24 slides within first andsecond housing guides 58, 60. The cable housing portion 56 includes arear connection 62 that interconnects to the splitter adapter 76 of themodule 24. During installation, for example, the cable housing portion56 slides in a rearward direction within the housing guides 58, 60 untilthe rear connection 62 of the cable housing portion connects to thesplitter adapter 76.

When the cable housing portion 56 of the module 24 is fully seatedwithin the housing guides 58, 60, a latch 64 located on the cablehousing portion 56 engages corresponding latch structure 66 of the firsthousing guide 58 to secure the cable housing portion 56 in relation tothe splitter adapter 76. To remove the cable housing portion 78 forrepair or replacement, for example, the latch 64 is unlatched from thelatch structure 66 of the first guide 58 and the housing portionremoved.

In one embodiment, the splitter module 24 is incorporated into theinterface panel 10 as a factory-assembled unit so that the user needonly mount the splitter module to the tray 20 without the need forsplicing, for example. In particular, the splitter module 14 can bepre-assembled with the split outgoing cables 36 and connectors (notshown) so that a user need only secure the splitter module 24 to thetray 20, and route the outgoing cables 36 to the desired terminationlocation.

Referring back to FIG. 3, each of the splicing arrangement 24 and thesplitter modules 24 of the interface panel 12 are horizontally orientedso that the overall height H of the panel does not exceed the preferredone RU spatial limitation of the panel 12. This arrangement is compactyet provides the functionality of splicing and splitting in a single RUpanel.

The tray 20 of the present interface panel 12 is fixed or fixedlymounted in relation to the telecommunications rack 14. What is meant byfixed or fixedly mounted is that the tray 20 does not move, slide, ortranslate relative to the telecommunications rack 14. Because theinterface panel 12 is fixed, access to the functional components (e.g.,the splicing arrangement 22 and the splitter modules 24) mounted to thefixed tray 20 is of importance.

The functional components of the interface panel 12 are constructed toslide relative to the tray 20 and relative to the telecommunicationsrack 14 to provide access to the components. In particular, aspreviously described, the cable housing portions 56 of the splittermodules 24 each individually slide in a forward-rearward directionrelative to the tray 20. The sliding mounting arrangement of the presentsplitter modules 24 provide assess to the splitter devices 54 and theoutgoing split cables 36 of the modules 24 when top access is otherwiseobstructed; for example, when telecommunications equipment 18 is mountedin a rack unit above the interface panel 12.

Likewise, the splice tray 44 of the splicing arrangement 22 isconstructed to slide relative to the tray 20 and relative to thetelecommunications rack 14. In particular, the splice tray 44 isconstructed to slide in a forward-rearward direction directed by firstand second splice tray guides 68, 70. In the illustrated embodiment, thesplice tray 44 is mounted to a sliding plate 88 that slides withingrooves 72, 74 formed in the guides 68, 70. The sliding plate 88 andspice tray 44 provide access to the splices 48, for example, whentelecommunications equipment 18 is mounted in the rack unit space abovethe interface panel 12. In one embodiment, the radius limiters 42 of thesplicing arrangement 22 are arranged on the plate 88 so that the excesscable stored around the radius limiters 42 moves with the splice tray44.

In general, the present interface panel 12 is a low-cost solution fortelecommunications systems that can be enhanced by the provision of apanel having both splicing functionality and splitting functionality.The low-cost solution is provided in part by the fixed tray design thatis simple to manufacture and simple to assembly. In contrast, someconventional panels including sliding drawers wherein the entire drawerslide relative to the telecommunications rack. Such sliding drawerassemblies can be costly to manufacture. The fixed tray eliminates thecosts associated with such drawer slide assemblies; yet, the presentinterface panel 12 still provides access to the functional components(e.g., the splicing arrangement 22 and the splitter modules 24). Accessis provided by allowing the functional components to slide outward fromthe interior region 32 of the panel 12, as opposed to sliding the entiretray outward from the rack.

The above specification provides a complete description of the presentinvention. Since many embodiments of the invention can be made withoutdeparting from the spirit and scope of the invention, certain aspects ofthe invention reside in the claims hereinafter appended.

1. A telecommunications system, comprising: a) a telecommunications rackdefining a plurality of rack unit spaces to which telecommunicationsequipment mounts; and b) an interface panel mounted within one of therack unit spaces, the interface panel including: i) a non-moving traymounted in a generally horizontal orientation, the non-moving trayhaving a non-moving mounting surface; and ii) a plurality of splittermodules mounted on the non-moving mounting surface of the non-movingtray, each splitter module sliding independent of one another in alinear direction toward a front of the interface panel and relative tothe non-moving tray to provide access to the splitter module whentelecommunications equipment is mounted in the rack unit space above theinterface panel.
 2. The system of claim 1, wherein the interface paneldefines a cable entry and a cable exit, the system further including anincoming cable entering the interface panel through the cable entry anda plurality of outgoing cables exiting the interface panel through thecable exit, the plurality of outgoing cables being split cables of theincoming cable.
 3. The system of claim 2, wherein the interface panelhas a front and a rear, the cable entry being located at the rear of theinterface panel.
 4. The system of claim 3, wherein the cable exit islocated at the front of the interface panel.
 5. The system of claim 1,further including a splicing arrangement mounted on the non-movingmounting surface of the non-moving tray, the splicing arrangement beingslidable relative to the non-moving tray to provide access to splices ofthe splicing arrangement when telecommunications equipment is mounted inthe rack unit space above the interface panel.
 6. The system of claim 5,wherein the splicing arrangement slides in a linear direction toward thefront of the interface panel.
 7. A method of accessing components of aninterface panel of a telecommunications system, the method comprisingthe steps of: a) providing a telecommunications rack defining aplurality of rack unit spaces to which telecommunications equipmentmounts, the interface panel being mounted in a generally horizontalorientation within one of the rack unit spaces; b) sliding a firstsplitter module mounted on a non-moving mounting surface of theinterface panel in a linear direction toward a front of the interfacepanel to access the first splitter module when telecommunicationsequipment is mounted in the rack unit space above the interface panel;and c) sliding a second splitter module mounted on the non-movingmounting surface of the interface panel relative to the first splittermodule in a linear direction toward a front of the interface panel toaccess the second splitter module when telecommunications equipment ismounted in the rack unit space above the interface panel.
 8. The methodof claim 7, wherein the interface panel defines a cable entry and acable exit, further including providing an incoming cable that entersthe interface panel through the cable entry and a plurality of outgoingcables that exit the interface panel through the cable exit, theplurality of outgoing cables being split cables of the incoming cable.9. The method of claim 8, wherein the interface panel has a front and arear, the cable entry being located at the rear of the interface panel.10. The method of claim 9, wherein the cable exit is located at thefront of the interface panel.
 11. The method of claim 7, furtherincluding providing a splicing arrangement mounted on the non-movingmounting surface of the interface panel.
 12. The method of claim 11,further including sliding the splicing arrangement relative to theinterface panel to access splices of the splicing arrangement whentelecommunications equipment is mounted in the rack unit space above theinterface panel.
 13. The method of claim 12, wherein the step of slidingthe splicing arrangement includes sliding the splicing arrangement in alinear direction toward the front of the interface panel.